The importance of safely disposing billions of pounds of human and animal excrement each day so as to avoid the myriad of health problems associated with such wastes cannot be overstated. In reality, only a fraction of this massive amount of material is safely treated, while the remainder is untreated and poses a threat to human and animal health. For instance, it is well known that the complex of bacterial and other agents causing gastrointestinal diseases is the world's largest single cause of mortality. It is also well known that these types of diseases impact primarily infants and children, as well as livestock. It is estimated that over the next ten years, at least twenty million people will die as a result of poor or inadequate sanitation facilities.
One of the reasons for this is that approximately 2.4 billion people live in areas without adequate sanitation facilities. Nearly 4000 children die each day from conditions such as diarrhea. In addition, people suffering from water-borne diseases occupy about half of the world's hospital beds. In several Asiatic countries, twice as many people are dying from diarrhea-related diseases as from AIDS. Essentially, the poor sanitation conditions are resulting from or related to the inability of homes, communities and in some instances, entire countries, to adequately treat and dispose of human and animal wastes, which bear and promote the growth and development of disease-causing microorganisms.
Without question, the unwanted effects of microorganisms in industrial settings are numerous. For example, safer and more effective means for treating microbe-laden surfaces in medical or hospital environments are needed. Safer and more effective means for treating agricultural crops for unwanted microbial growth are needed. Further, a means for reducing the unwanted odors produced in the breakdown of fecal matter in industrial farming operations is desperately needed.
There is an urgent need for the replacement of antibiotics with other types of compounds that also exhibit antimicrobial activity. Continued use of most of the commonly used antibiotics for animals and agriculture has resulted in acquired resistance in microbial populations, especially microbes that are capable of being pathogenic. Every year, at least 23,000 people in the United States die due to infections caused by drug resistant bacteria, and the number is increasing.
Thus, there is a need in the art for antimicrobial compositions suitable for reducing microorganisms and the effects of microbial outgrowth in a wide range of industrial settings, as well as for formulas and methods of human and animal waste treatment. The present invention satisfies this need.